Say, Allen Books

Grandfather's Journey (Caldecott Medal Book)

Allen Say

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Selection! 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The cover illustration is what initially drew me to this book; watching a young man stand on the deck of a steamship while the wind and waves thrash about. The color of the sea beckoned me to turn the pages and find out more about where this man was going and whether or not he would get there.

Grandfather is a young immigrant traveling from Japan to his new home in America. He journeys all across this land and experiences all aspects of it: cities, farms, mountains, rivers, people, etc. He settles in California but eventually misses his homeland, and travels back to satisfy his longings. Through a series of events, he is unable to make his way back to the West Coast that he loves so much.

My husband and I were in the Navy and lived among people from all over the world. I loved getting to know them and experiencing their ways of life. Understanding how other people around the world think and love and live, has made me a more complete person. It has made me who I am today. In this way I connect with Grandfather and his journeys.

Editorial Review:

Home becomes elusive in this story about immigration and acculturation, pieced together through old pictures and salvaged family tales. Both the narrator and his grandfather long to return to Japan, but when they do, they feel anonymous and confused: "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other." Allen Say's prose is succinct and controlled, to the effect of surprise when monumental events are scaled down to a few words: "The young woman fell in love, married, and sometime later I was born." The book also has large, formal paintings in delicate, faded colors that portray a cherished and well-preserved family album. The book, for audiences ages 4 to 8, won the 1994 Caldecott Medal.

The Boy of the Three-Year Nap (Caldecott Honor Books)

Dianne Snyder

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Grade 1-6 The accuracy of the visualized Japanese landscape and architecture help considerably in casting this retold folktale into an Oriental mold. A very industrious widow watches her very lazy teenage son (whose nickname is the title of the book) grow up. And readers watch her watching him in tightly crafted scenes that are some what reminiscent of 17th- or 18th-Cen tury Japanese woodcuts: fishing boats on the river; bamboo-windowed houses; blue-mountained backdrops with birds in V-formation; etc. Smoothly applied paint (seemingly air brushed at times) depict the peaceful Japanese landscape. The costuming and facial gestures, as the boy tricks a rich neighbor into rebuilding his moth er's house and allowing him to marry his daughter, create a dramatic effect. There is a sense of authenticity to the pictures that informs readers about a particular lifestyle while simultaneous ly entertaining them with an engaging, almost universal trickster tale. Ken neth Marantz, Art Education Depart ment, Ohio State University, Colum bus Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the

How My Parents Learned to Eat (Sandpiper Houghton Mifflin books)

Ina R. Friedman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Beware the Overt Generalities 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

It's helpful that this story is from a child's point of view, but it does not excuse the generalizations. Use it as a reference - as social authentication - of multi-ethnic relationships, but it is a dated work that carries the overt stereotypes of the time. Dress, behaviors, and erroneous beliefs mark the story.

Great Book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This story is sweet and a great way to teach children about culture. No matter what culture you are you can learn to get along.

charming 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

my daughter has dozens, hundreds......SO many books......and yet she asks for me to read this one over and over again.....there is some simple sweet charm about it......and tonight, she read it to me.......i think part of the sweetness of it is the child's perspective of the parents' relationship.......i can't think of another book where a child tells about the parents falling in love.....it is unique and charming.....

cute culture marriage and comparison 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

very cute story about differences in American and japanese food etiquette, utensils, etc and overcoming differences to end in a marriage of cultures...a little questionable about the age of the girl who is dating an American sailor...but otherwise a cute story..(back then, not uncommon to get married young....)

Editorial Review:

Brand: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Item # HO-395442354

Tree of Cranes

Allen Say

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Wonderful Illustrations, Good & Meaningful Story 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book enough to, in pre-Amazon days, put in two special orders (both failed) through Crown Books and finally, after two years, find a children's specialty book store that could get it for me. It is the story of a small boy learning to obey his mother as well as the story of his first Christmas. The book's strength is its astonishing illustrations. The luminous pictures of the family's Japanese home, the small pine tree with the silver origami cranes and candles, and the emotion on the face of the little boy captivate my son, who is not yet two and a half. Even at his age, which is much younger than this book is intended for, he really responds to the poetic text, the relationship between the boy and his mother, his struggle to obey his mother and deal with her disapproval of his misbehavior, and the beauty of the tree of cranes. This is a peaceful and gentle text, and I am grateful that I can finally read my son this story that both helps to build his character and exposes him to the beauty and grace of Japanese form.

Editorial Review:

As a young Japanese boy recovers from a bad chill, his mother busily folds origami paper into delicate silver cranes in preparation for the boy's very first Christmas.

Emma's Rug

Allen Say

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

THE BEST! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I don't know how you can give this book 4 stars! If anything this is a 5 star book. I've met Allen Say and he said that 'The question that all authors hate most is, Were do you get your ideas? So I wrote this book and if somone asks me were I get my ideas for books I say read Emma's Rug.

A Child's Artistic Sensibility Revealed 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

It goes without saying that all of Allen Say's books are wonderful; if you've not read "Tea with Milk" or "Grandfather's Journey" or "Allison" (the best book about adoption I've ever read), you are missing a great master in the world of children's picture books. Say both writes and illustrates his books, and the continuity created by this one-person effort (not that he's the only writer who illustrates his own books) is always noticeable, providing a consistency in tone and approach sometimes absent in children's books when the writing and art jobs are divvied up.

Allen Say illustrates his books with rich, yet spare, watercolors that work lovingly and effortlessly with his clean prose style. His paintings are highly representational, even photographic at times, and their perspective and precision are more sometimes more suggestive of oils than watercolors. In this book, Say departs from this realistic tendency at times when he captures beautifully the developing artistic sensibility of a young girl. I don't want to say how he does it, or tell you more about the story than this, because its unfolding is part of the joy here.

For any artistic child, this is a gift of validation for his or her creative interest. And this takes children who appreciate art into the inner world of those who create it. I can't say enough about this fabulous book.

Editorial Review:

In a story of warmth and surprise, Allen Say explores the origins of artistic inspiration. Elegant illustrations portray the journey of a child who discovers that creativity ultimately comes from within.

Kamishibai Man

Allen Say

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

PRESERVING THE ROOTS OF JAPANESE CULTURE 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

This book is absolutely amazing. It's like walking through a museum in many ways -- and don't we parents feel great when we take our kids to a museum? We feel like it's worth the admission price to ensure our children know how to appreciate history, art, and beauty.

In the introduction, Allen Say writes, "When I think of my childhood in Japan, I think of kamishibai. It means 'paper theater.' Every afternoon, the kamishibai man came on a bicycle that had a big wooden box mounted on the back seat. The box had drawers full of candies and a stage at the top. We bought candies and listened to the man's stories."

Say was born in Yokohama in 1937, into a very different Japan than what exists now. Back in the days where people didn't have televisions in their homes, children would eagerly anticipate listening to the kamishibai man's stories. "Clack! Clack!" He would beat his wooden blocks together until he'd drawn a crowd of listeners. His stories were cliffhangers, ending with "to be continued." So the children would return the next day to hear what happened next.

In this book, an old man who has retired to the countryside remembers his days of being a kamishibai man. "I've been thinking how much I miss going on my rounds," he says to his elderly wife. So, she makes him some candies, and he rides his bike back into the city, humming along the way (until he reaches the urban metropolis). Much has changed. The trees and quiet parks have been replaced with concrete and buildings. "Who needs to buy so many things and eat so many different foods?" he wonders to himself.

The cover of the book shows you what his theater looks like. (Oh, don't you love that picture?) He takes out his wooden blocks and clacks them together, just like in the old times. In his mind, he's seeing the happy faces of children running to him. Thus begins a story within a story, and Say changes his style of artwork to preserve the style of the kamishibai man's illustrated cards.

He tells the story of what it was like for him when TVs came along and began to replace his job as entertainer. In a poignant scene, a little girl comes to her window and shushes him! You can see her siblings inside, sitting mesmerized in front of a television set. The sadness on the storyteller's face expresses the end of an era.

But as the elderly man finishes his story, he looks up to see that he's surrounded by clapping middle-aged people, who remember him. "We grew up with your stories!" one of them shouts. They applaud him, and he's even filmed by a news station (which is ironic, isn't it?).

The facial expressions in the artwork are stunning; you have to look at each picture carefully to notice all the exquisite details. I've watched my five-year-old stare and stare at these pictures. This would be a great addition to school libraries and classrooms -- teachers will love to read it out loud because it's captivating and full of dialogue.

In the afterword, a Japanese folklore scholar explains more of the significance of Japan's post-war transition to an electric, affluent society. She writes, "The artists who had made their living in kamishibai turned to more lucrative pursuits, notably the creation of manga (comic books) and later anime [cartoons], but they never forgot their roots in kamishibai."

-- Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester for Mom 2 Mom Connection

Editorial Review:

The Kamishibai man used to ride his bicycle into town where he would tell stories to the children and sell them candy, but gradually, fewer and fewer children came running at the sound of his clappers. They were all watching their new televisions instead. Finally, only one boy remained, and he had
no money for candy. Years later, the Kamishibai man and his wife made another batch of candy, and he pedaled into town to tell one more story—his own. When he comes out of the reverie of his memories, he looks around to see he is surrounded by familiar faces—the children he used to entertain have returned, all grown up and more eager than ever to listen to his delightful tales.

Using two very different yet remarkable styles of art, Allen Say tells a tale within a tale, transporting readers seamlessly to the Japan of his memories.

Tea with Milk

Allen Say

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Tea with Milk 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Tea with Milk is a good book because it talkes about the difference between american culture and asian culture. It also tells you how the girl in the story handled the situation when she had to move back to her country. This is a great children's book.

Editorial Review:

At home in San Francisco, May speaks Japanese and the family eats rice and miso soup and drinks green tea. When she visits her friends' homes, she eats fried chicken and spaghetti. May plans someday to go to college and live in an apartment of her own. But when her family moves back to Japan, she soon feels lost and homesick for America. In Japan everyone calls her by her Japanese name, Masako. She has to wear kimonos and sit on the floor. Poor May is sure that she will never feel at home in this country. Eventually May is expected to marry and a matchmaker is hired. Outraged at the thought, May sets out to find her own way in the big city of Osaka. With elegant watercolors reminiscent of Grandfather's Journey, Allen Say has created a moving tribute to his parents and their path to discovering where home really is. The accompanying story of his mother and her journey as a young woman is heartfelt. Vividly portraying the graceful formality of Japan, Tea with Milk effectively captures th

Stranger in the Mirror

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Startling. 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This story is startling. It does what Allen Say sets out todo, it alters you. No one writes about this stuff - age-ism -especially not in a children's book and through the powerful medium ofa hallucinatory/fantastic story sequence. It's definitely different and I almost want to say subversive. I wonder what children would think of it.

Editorial Review:

One morning Sam wakes up and looks at his reflection in the mirror. Overnight he has changed, and he sees a stranger's face staring back at him - an old face. Sam has suddenly aged. As a result, his classmates won't play with him, and at home his family treats him like a different person. On the inside, though, he is the same Sam - why can't anyone see that?

Under the Cherry Blossom Tree: An Old Japanese Tale

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

My daughter and I love this book. 5 out of 5 stars.
24 of 24 people found this review helpful.

My three-year-old daughter and I happened across Under the Cherry Blossom Tree by Allen Say at our local library. It was different from any other kids' book we had read--strange, funny, and maybe a little disturbing. (Face it. We're talking about an old man with a tree growing out of his head.) But because of the humor, the beautiful illustration, and the poetically just ending, it soon became our favorite.

One problem was that the library wanted it back. The other problem was that it was out of print.

You won't know just how happy I was to find that Under the Cherry Blossom Tree had been re-printed until you read this book for yourself.

Editorial Review:

There were eggs in every bird's nest, the air buzzed with honeybees, and cherry trees blossomed all at once. The poor villagers forgot their cares and gathered in the meadow to sing and dance their time away. But their miserly landlord refused to be happy. Mumbling and grumbling, he sat all alone eating a bowl of cherries and glaring at the merry villagers. Then, quite by accident, he swallowed a cherry pit. The pit began to sprout, and soon the landlord was the wonder of the village—a cherry tree was growing out of the top of his head! What happened to the cherry tree and to the wicked landlord is a favorite joke in Japan. Allen Say tells the story with wit and vitality, and his beautiful drawings complement this classic Japanese tale.

The Bicycle Man (Sandpiper)

Allen Say

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A charming vignette. . . 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Soon after World War II, in occupied Japan, two American soldiers (we don't learn why they're there or where they're headed) walk onto a Japanese school yard, and one of them delights the assembled students with bicycle-riding tricks. A charming vignette of the personal interaction between a pair of young men and a group of children, strangers with different languages and from different cultures, whose paths cross briefly and will never cross again. Doubly charming to me because my father, a young soldier [though not the man depicted], was there at the time, and could ride the bicycle backwards better than anyone I've ever met.

My son exclaimed "Read it again!!" 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

My 7 year old son loved this book! Each page reeled him in more: the sports day fun, the soldiers, the appealing black character, the bike tricks. He did not want the story to stop. It has been a long time since he asked me to re-read a book!!

Editorial Review:

The amazing tricks two American soldiers perform on a borrowed bicycle are a fitting finale for the school sports day festivities in a small village in occupied Japan.